


Here is the Echo of a Sound I Wanted

by Lil_Redhead



Series: Shirbert Oneshot + Drabble Collection [9]
Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M, aka anne realizes she's head over heels for gilbert, pining x1000000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 12:51:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20471333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lil_Redhead/pseuds/Lil_Redhead
Summary: Anne doesn't know quite what to with herself when she realizes she's falling in love with Gilbert Blythe.





	Here is the Echo of a Sound I Wanted

**Author's Note:**

> For an anon who requested some soft, pining shirbert. For this fandom, that usually means Gilbert pining for Anne. I wanted to try the flip side of that!

Sometimes Anne just needed to say things out loud - to let her thoughts _exist_ in the world so that they could stop plaguing her mind with their wild cacophony. It was how the forest became such a kindred spirit, it always listened. It never judged, it never jumped to conclusions. Sometimes the confessions exploded out of her before they all but killed her.

“I think I’m falling in love with Gilbert Blythe and I’m absolutely terrified.” 

It had come out _much _louder than she expected it to, much to her utter horror. She heard it echo across the trees, like gossip spreading among the leaves, and nearly dropped her basket of apple dumplings. Spinning around, Anne looked around nervously to see if anyone was in earshot of her frenzied proclamation. Her nerves still shook with anxious electric energy even after she discovered she was alone. 

This sort of reaction had been happening a lot in recent days, and there was only one person to blame. 

Gilbert Blythe, with his impossibly gentle gazes and laughter that seemed to bubble from the tips of his toes. Gilbert Blythe, with his silk soft hair that Anne had accidentally touched one time and never forgot the feeling of. Gilbert Blythe, who had occupied nearly every one of her thoughts during the last year. 

It was beginning to drive her crazy.

How could she be expected to make it through Queen’s Academy with high marks when he sat beside her in all the classes they shared. Oh, but how she thrilled when he whispered inside jokes in her ear when the instructor wasn’t looking. She’d nudge him, and he’d nudge her back, and she’d spend the next half hour reminding herself all the reasons why she _shouldn’t _reach out and hold his hand to feel his touch again. 

So now, against her best judgement, Anne Shirley was taking apple dumplings - that she had baked _specifically _for him with the apples he’d given her - to his house for no other reason than she wanted to see him. 

Because she missed him. 

_Fancy that! _Anne Shirley had gone a whole twenty-four hours without seeing Gilbert Blythe and the separation was making her skin itch. 

Her feet locked to the ground when his house came into view. There was _no way _she could do this. She’d rather sit in her room in isolation for the rest of her life than say something idiotic in front of Gilbert - and she would, given how eager the thought of seeing him made her. 

Suppose she just knocked on the door, left the baked goods, and ran. 

Anne groaned. That was no good. Gilbert would recognize her basket _and _her cooking. Besides, if he didn’t, she didn’t want him to think the gift had been from anyone else. She ought to just pull herself up by her boot strings and face the - frustratingly handsome and ceaselessly wonderful - man head on! She took a few steps forward, gaining stride, gaining confidence - 

Only to freeze once again in the path. 

What if he saw through her? What if he took one look at the apple dumplings and said, “Anne Shirley, you’ve finally gone and fallen for me. How stupid of you!” After all, she didn’t feel that a homely, redhead was what Gilbert had in mind when he pictured his future. Where would that leave her, when the only person she _could _picture in her future was Gilbert? He was the only one she’d met that she’d respected as her equal and treated her equally in return. What if he married someone else and she was left bringing him apple dumplings for the rest of her lonely spinstering days and - 

_Land sakes, Anne Shirley, just walk up to the door and knock, _a voice in her head scolded. It sounded an awful lot like Marilla. 

Somehow, she managed to march herself right up to the door, heart fit to explode out of her chest. Just as she raised a fist to knock, the door swung open, revealing a surprised Gilbert. He nearly stumbled into her, foot halfway out the door, but he caught himself when he was inches away from her.

Anne peered up at him, a chill running through her as his breath hit her face. When had he gotten so much taller than her? 

“Anne! Sorry - I wasn’t…I didn’t expect to see you…Well, I was _coming _to see you but you’re already-” 

“You were?!” Anne squeaked. “Coming to see me?” 

Gilbert blinked, as if the shock of seeing her had shaken his brain from his head, but then he suddenly regained his senses. He lifted his hand and revealed a small collection of paper tied up in twine. 

“I remember you saying you were struggling with the geometry reading, so I wrote up some supplementary notes. They should fill in the blanks that Professor Sidney left out.” Anne’s fingers clutched her basket as she tried rein back the smile threatening to overcome her face. “You must’ve had a reason to come too, Anne.” 

She was so distracted by her euphoria - Gilbert was coming to see her! Gilbert had gone out of his way to help her! - that she was only half paying attention when she answered. 

“I missed you and wanted to see you.”

His eyes were as wide as full moons when Anne realized what she said. Her hazy mind turned crisp and she stammered as she tried to regain her bearings. Shoving the basket in his direction, she glued her eyes to the ground. 

“Um, what I mean is, these are for you,” she remedied. 

Gilbert accepted the basket slowly, as if he was afraid she’d change her mind if he moved too quickly. 

“So...You missed me, you wanted to see me, so you...baked apple dumplings for me?” 

How _dare _he! The audacity of such a man to be so smug! Except his countenance did give off the impression that he was hopeful and pleased to hear such news. Certainly he was only pleased because such a thing would stroke his already inflated ego. Of that, Anne was sure of. Mostly.

“I...” 

But Anne was depleted of words to rescue her. 

“Is it so strange if I did?” she said finally. 

The mirth in Gilbert’s eyes left him, replaced by something entirely too intense for Anne to recognize. The blues in his hazel eyes brightened, and they bore into her as if they were looking directly into her essence. 

“If it is, then I’m even stranger,” he said gently. Anne’s heart skipped, no, _lept _over a beat. 

“You mean you..?” She couldn’t bring herself to say it, but he understood the meaning just the same. With a smile, Gilbert gave a warm, barely perceptible nod. Anne felt her cheeks blush all the way down to her toes. She could see him taking a chance, but for what? 

Her? God, she hoped so.

She was half a second away from asking, _And what about you and I? Would that be strange? _But Gilbert poked her foot with his. 

“Wanna come inside? Bash made some cider not too long ago. It’d go well with the dumplings.” 

Anne bit her lip to keep from exploding in delight. 

“That sounds nice, Gil. Sure.” 

When the sun had sunk wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed when the day was over and she still was left to boil in her affection for him. But it was the first time that she had begun to wonder if maybe...just maybe, Gilbert had begun to simmer for her.

**Author's Note:**

> What'd you think?
> 
> If you wanna chat, come find me on tumblr ~ @royalcordelia !!


End file.
